It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
by Kitty-chan33
Summary: (shônen-ai) A series of Christmas-based fluffy one-shots. (Hiatus.)


Kitty: Okay, okay; I know I don't usually write shônen-ai and shôjo-ai, but I think it's time for a change. I guess I'll start with this collaboration of Christmas-themed one-shots, then see if I'm loved with the shônen-ai fans and decide what to do from there. Sound good? I hope so…

Disclaimer: Shaman King isn't mine, and I'm dead sure that others have used this collaboration-of-one-shots format before, but the plots are mine.

_Ren & Horohoro:  
__Mistletoe_

Ren blanched. Once again, that horrible sprig of green hell had found its way into the Asakuras' living room, hanging on a nail down into the doorway. Along with an utterly useless evergreen tree that had been propped up in the corner of the room, matching garlands and wreathes adorned almost every inch of free space in the house. But the worst of all the useless decorations was the tiny bundle of joy called mistletoe. It dangled unobtrusively in the doorway to the living room, beckoning unsuspecting people to stand under it, then force them to lock lips and exchange giddy remarks with their friends afterwards. There was not much on earth that could intimidate Tao Ren, and it bothered him that a tiny bouquet of leaves was one of the things that could.

"Damn mistletoe," he cursed under his breath, trying to whack the greenery down with the blunt end of his kwan-dao before any of the others came back from Christmas shopping. He knew the horrors of the plant from the previous year, and he wasn't about to let the same awful thing happen again. "No sir-ee," he grunted, remembering the past year's trauma. 'If I get rid of this now, maybe no one will notice it's gone.' Ren smirked at his own thought. 'And Pirika won't be able to try anything, seeing as there won't be any mistletoe!' The Ainu girl had been quite keen on Ren since the Shaman Fights had ended, and everyone knew it. Trouble was, Ren had his eyes on a different Ainu.

"Finally," he huffed exasperatedly as the sprig of mistletoe plunked down onto the ground after a final beat with the kwan-dao. After a quick scan around the room for any witnesses, Ren grabbed the hell-inspired plant. "I really hate you, you know…" he muttered to the innocent-looking bouquet of leaves in his hand, shaking his head disapprovingly. "You made my life so horrendous last year. And, well… I can't let the same thing happen again this year. With you out of the picture, I know I won't get any chances with Horo, but I'm afraid I need to destroy you. I just know I won't survive a repeat of last year's Pirika-incident."

As he finished saying this, Ren began to walk slowly toward his unknown destination, pondering the method of disposal he would use on the plant. He _could_ just throw it in the garbage, but that would be too easy. He'd get absolutely no satisfaction out of it. _Scratch that idea_. He could burn it, but then the house would smell like smoke and people would get suspicious of foul play. _Nope_. He could stab it to pieces with his kwan-dao, but then the leaves might stain the blade green or something to that extent. _Strike three._ Maybe, just _maybe_, he could go outside and throw it over the neighbor's fence. _Is that your final answer?_ Yeah! That's it! He'll go fling it over the fence and it'll be gone forever! _Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner, folks!_

With that, Ren skidded out to the hall in search of his coat and shoes. He hurried into them as fast as he could, happily dreaming of all the unbearable holiday rituals he was forced into performing every year, an almost Yoh-ish smile on his face. He could finally be rid of that damn mistletoe for another year! No more Pirika babbling about nothing in particular as she led him overtly towards the mistletoe! No more teasing glances from Horohoro and Yoh as they watched the younger of the Usui siblings make her advance on him! And, best of all, no more dreadful "holiday" kisses from that annoyingly perky Ainu girl! _Yeah!_

For the first time in his entire teenage lifespan, the Great Spirit was smiling down upon Ren, and the Chinese teen knew it. He was so sure that no one would stop him in his quest to escape the mistletoe-tradition that he flung the front door open and bolted through it. Problem was… there was already someone standing in the doorway.

Ren collided full-force with a winter-wear-clad Horohoro, knocking him to the icy ground, and in the process, dropping the mistletoe onto a snow bank beside them. To the untrained eye, it would seem as if Ren had pounced on Horohoro, but such was not the case. Ren now lay atop Horo, his chin resting on the Ainu's collarbone, his lips pressed against the blunette's now un-scarved throat. This made the younger of the two boys blush furiously and remove his face from the other's neck.

"Oi, Ren! What was that for?!" Horohoro half-grunted, half-yelled as he massaged the part of his head that had hit the icy concrete. Apparently, he hadn't noticed how intimately Ren had landed on him; or if he did, he had pretended not to notice. "And could you get off me; you're not as light as you used to be." It was true; since the Shaman Fights had ended a few years ago, Ren had grown significantly more muscular, thus increasing his weight.

"Watch where you're going, Ainu-baka…" Ren grumbled, trying to push himself up off Horohoro and onto the frozen walkway.

Whether it be the Great Spirit's doing, or just coincidence or luck, one of Ren's bare hands slipped out from underneath him, causing his face to come down and meet with Horo's warm lips. Part of him wanted spring right off the Ainu and kick him in the nose just for being alive, but another, more powerful part of him commanded him to stay right there on top of Horohoro and enjoy what little artificial pleasure he could get.

So that's what he did.

For another second or two, until a third part of Ren came into play, making him come up for a breath of cold air.

"R-Ren?" Horohoro asked, clearly a bit perplexed. "W-Was that an accident?"

Just as he asked this, a gust of wind pushed through the front yard, blowing the forgotten sprig of mistletoe off the snow bank and down onto the walkway, a few inches from Horohoro's left shoulder.

"No," Ren answered genuinely, smirking inwardly. "Tao Ren doesn't have accidents. Can't you see that there's mistletoe, Ainu-baka?" Before Horohoro could answer, his mouth was pressed shut again by Ren's.

Then and there, Ren realized that mistletoe was nowhere near as bad as he thought it was.

_-Owari-_

Kitty: Good Lord, I've finished something! I never thought the day would come when I finished something! And it's even on time! Anyway, tell me what you think in a review, and I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Just so you know, that was my first real attempt at shônen-ai, so don't blame me if it's awful. (When I started planning for this first chapter, I originally intended for this to be a YohXTamao. I'm not sure how or why I changed my mind, but I did…)

Also, I do knowthat there are _way_more of you that read this than reviewed it. (Ah, the bliss of support services...) You don't need to be so shy; drop a short little review and be on your way. Trust me; it doesn't take as long as you think it does.

Next: _Hao & Yoh: A Walk Through The Falling Snow_


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